In many navigation applications, estimation of altitude is of essential importance, and with many new applications, especially the area of personal navigation, there is an even increased emphasis on altitude accuracy. One of the primary altitude sensors used in the estimation of altitude is the barometer. Fundamentally, a barometer does not measure altitude directly; instead, it measures atmospheric pressure which can then be converted to altitude based upon an empirical altitude vs. pressure model. The problem with this is that atmospheric pressure is not constant at a given altitude. At a given altitude, the pressure may vary greatly with time and horizontal displacement due to weather fronts passing through the area. Due to these variations, the conversion from pressure to altitude can be inaccurate. This system and method is designed to correct for the altitude errors caused by the weather front-induced pressure variations.
For the reasons stated above and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the specification, there is a need in the art for improved systems and methods for differential altitude estimation utilizing spatial interpolation of pressure sensor data.